For better and for worse, the relationship between modern music artists and social media is intertwined, meaning that while small-scale DIY artists can suddenly achieve global success and generate massive audiences overnight, the requirement to have such a self-built, ready-to-go audience can now be the barometer on which major labels take an interest.
Alongside that demand, there’s the cold reality that a lack of instant feedback, or positive engagement, can have detrimental effects on the mental health of artists who are still developing. It’s a situation that SILK (real name Olly Ettridge) knows all too well. “I might post TikToks and they might not get as many likes as the [2022 single] Quiver one did,” he says, “and you feel like shit about it. But, are you going to let your success be governed by that? It’s really damaging.”
